Anne, Asking the copyright owner for permission to re-publish a record is very much a common courtesy. The major reason for only granting permission in microfiche format (or booklet ) is primarily to ensure that due acknowledgment is given. Their other conditions are not all irksome. The major reason for not granting permission to publish electronically is the uncontrolled nature of the process, often resulting in the loss of acknowledgment to the copyright owner, public or private. The abuse of copyright as you are threatening will only lead to the tightening of access restrictions to the records making our hobby more difficult. I should also point out that the Registrar General in Edinburgh sells microfilm copies of the original Census Records and Parish Registers. It from my own library of microfilms that I have done the transcribing and indexing. Also, have a look at what the Irish have done. They insist that you go pay through the nose to go through an approved record agent to get your dollars into Ireland. David ----- Original Message ----- From: Anne M. Rendall <anne@rendall.net> To: <ORKNEY-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 1999 8:35 PM Subject: Re: (was Re: [ORKNEY] Re: ORKNEY-D Digest V99 #191) > At 05:39 PM 8/18/99 +0800, you wrote: > >G'day Marybeth, > >No it's not available online. The Scottish Registrar General only granted me > >copyright permission to publish it on microfiche. > > > I find it so amazing that they claim copyright in public records - the US > doesn't which is why it is so much easier to get our census records. Such, > information should be freely available to all. > > There was an interesting case in the US at the Federal Appellate level last > year where the Court ruled that the British Crown's copyright in photos of > paintings in the public domain had not enough originality to be entitled to > copyright protection in the US - I wish I could remember the case in more > detail but that was the gist of it. There's arguably more originality in a > photograph than a stack of records over a hundred years old. It tempts me > to publish the census records I have at my website. > > > Anne Rendall >